If you're employing a Distant Realm concept but renaming it, then Shore retains the singular flavor Realm has. If on the other hand you're adapting a Distant Realm concept to be a Distant Realms concept, then Shores matches Realms.

Basically it was this - Richard Merk made up a place (Pandora Station) - some NPCs (The Captain and some others) and a Plot - (You don't tell the players the plot in advance you want it to be a surprise and you want their in-character reactions to be extemporaneous and sponatenous.)

So Richard called for players. Several players showed up, made up characters. Put them on Pandroa station.

Then Richard had the plot make it's first appearance...

and was brutally ignored. The players free formed about their characters, and about the backstory plots the character brought with them, and ignored a mystery they were supposed to resolve.

I suspect that they didn't realize that this encouraging mystery was supposed to be their characters problem. I seems like we're looking at a clash of styles and unstated expectations. It's not that the Free formers actively said (moustache twirl) "Nyah ha haaa. Let's talke Richards Game away!"

Just when Richards NPCs showed up and said "Boy! That's really odd and sort of foreshadowy!" They just shrugged and kept doing whatever they were doing.

On the other hand....

I made up The Quantum Lounge. A Restaraunt and Bar on some Starbase somewhere for Free formers to bring characters from any (trek, or trek like) game they wanterd and... Well... free form.

And that died! WTF!?

Jay ~Meow!~

Wow. I have no memory of that now. None. It's like reading a post by someone else.

"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" - Leonard Nimoy

"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Evidently there were a series of miscommunications between Joshawott, Michael and me. The former will be running his Star Trek: Sovereign campaign. There seems to be a goodly number interested, and I have no desire to run a game here while another is transpiring. Too much like competition for my blood. Thus, I'm going to once again bow out.

I hope everyone enjoys their gaming.

You don't put bumper stickers on Ferraris. You don't put graffiti on a church. By the same ironclad reasoning, you don't put a tattoo on a beautiful woman.